Page 36 - KCRPCA Jan Feb 2018

MEMBER ADVENTURE
One Man’s Hunt
PTORSCHE 356
his is the story of my hunt for the in Germany, Ferry Porsche had died. perfect 356 Porsche that began Shocked and dazed, I quickly turned the more than two years ago. Study- radio back off and never used it again.
ing the history of the early Porsche mod- els became an interesting and fun adven- ture for me, although I already knew I loved Porsche cars. My rst Porsche was a 930 Turbo that I owned while my wife and I lived in Vermont. Many know Porsche history better than I can relate here, but I have always been in-
I switched on the radio and suddenly the rst sound out of the speaker was an announcement that, in Germany, Ferry Porsche had died.
trigued by it.
Ferdinand Porsche was 73 years old and in poor health when his rst car was built in Gmund. It was Ferry Porsche, who along with other engineers de- signed the 356 Porsche. To this day, the 356 Registry celebrates September 17th with a “Drive your 356 Day” in honor of the birthday of Ferry Porsche. While living in Vermont back in the 90s, I recall taking my 930 turbo out for a drive in the mountains. Very seldom did I ever feel the need to turn on the car radio back then. It was enough to just listen to the sound of a Porsche en- gine as it took a curve in the road. For some reason though, that day, I switched it on and suddenly the rst sound out of the speaker was an announcement that
To consider that the Porsche family en- dured some very tough times during the war and afterwards is an understatement. Before the war, Ferdinand Porsche was the most sought after automotive engi- neer in all of Germany. After the war and the imprisonment of both Ferdinand and his son Ferry Porsche in France, it was Ferry and others such as Karl Rabe who struggled to get their company back into business. Supplies were nearly im- possible to come by and with the occu- pation forces, namely the British, having taken control of Zuffenhausen, the busi- ness was reopened in Gmund, Austria.
As we all are aware, the very early 356 models were made entirely by hand in a former blacksmith shop and farm in Gmund, Austria. Using a wooden buck to pound out the metal panels by hand, the resultant pieces were then fabricated into a owing and classic shape.
The model lineup of the Porsche 356 can be broken down into several dif- ferent iterations of the original hand- made pre-production Gmund cars. The Gmund cars started production in 1948, coincidentally the year I was born. The total production ran from 1948 to 1965 with approximately 10 cabriolets actu- ally made in 1966. The 356 was made from 1950 to 1955. 356A was produced from 1956 to 1959, 356B T5 from 1960 to 1961, 356B T6 from 1962 to 1963
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Toby Brown